on by sending to Congress the message that contains the
enunciation of his famous doctrine. "America for the Americans", Mr.
President, was a formula that, as I understand it, meant the final
consecration of the independence of the American nations; it was the
voice of the most powerful of them all, proclaiming to the world that
conquest in the domain of this America was at an end; it was
notification to the conquering powers of Europe that they should not
extend themselves to these continents because this extensive territory
was all occupied by free nations, outside of whose sovereignty not an
inch was vacant.

The independence of these republics having been settled on the field of
battle by the sole force of the republics, the declaration of the
American President was the culminating act of that grand epic. For the
United States it is a record of honor; for Europe it is an ultimatum.

The Monroe Doctrine exists today with all the force of a law of nations,
and no country of Europe has dared to dispute it.

It is fitting, Mr. President, to appreciate exactly the meaning of this
great act, of the splendid attitude, more fertile for the peace of the
earth and for its progress than all the conventions that European
nations have arranged from time to time in order to determine their
quarrels. The American President, in formulating this doctrine, decreed
peace between Europe and America, which seemed destined, the former to
assault always for conquest, the latter to fight always to defend its
frontiers. In short, the Monroe Doctrine has been the veto on war
between Europe and America; in its shadow these youthful nations have
grown until today they are sufficiently strong to proclaim the same
doctrine as the emblem on their shield. And the most glorious
characteristic of this doctrine is that it is a dictate of civilization,
in the nature of a magnificent hymn of peace, which can be chanted at
the same time by the European and the American nations, because it
avoided that permanent contention which would have subvened if the
system of conquest that Europe has developed in regard to certain
nations had been implanted here in the territory of South America.

Well, Mr. President, he who is coming to visit us is a conspicuous
citizen of that nation, and brings, as it is said--and I believe the
Foreign Office already is informed in regard thereto--a message of peace
and fraternity of utmost interest to our progress. We ought